March 23, 2016 — A National Marine Monument for New England. Should the President designate the Cashes Ledge Closed Area and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts as the first Marine National Monument in the Atlantic? Come and hear experts Vito Giacalone from the Northeast Seafood Coalition and Peter Shelley of Conservation Law Foundation tackle the issues and the controversies surrounding Presidential action. A Panel with Vito Giacalone,
MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fishermen face ‘devastating’ cod cut
March 23, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The city’s commercial fishing industry — battered by last month’s arrest of magnate Carlos Rafael on federal conspiracy charges, last week’s drug raids on the waterfront and ongoing monitoring costs — took another punch to the gut this week, as government regulators proposed new cuts to cod catches that could take effect May 1.
“Those cuts will be devastating to the groundfishing fleet of New Bedford, and the whole New England coast,” said John Haran, manager of groundfish Sector 13.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in conjunction with the New England Fishery Management Council, released a proposed update Monday to the federal management plan for the northeastern fishery.
The proposal includes updated catch quotas and fishing limits for the fishery’s 20 groundfish stocks — including cod, flounder, haddock and more — for the next three years. The 2016 groundfish year starts May 1.
The proposal includes a new, 62-percent reduction from last year in the allowable catch for Georges Bank cod, a key species for the New Bedford fishing industry.
“Our fleet is entirely concentrated on Georges Bank West cod,” Haran said, referring to boats not only in his sector, but also in New Bedford-based sectors 7, 8 and 9.
“We also fish for Georges Bank East cod, but not as much,” said Haran, who is running for Select Board member in Dartmouth.
The proposal allows a total catch limit of 762 metric tons of Georges Bank cod in the 2016 fishing year. The total catch limit for Georges Bank haddock, by comparison, is 56,068 metric tons — an increase of 130 percent from a year ago.
Haran said the problem is that cod is a “choke species,” because once a crew reaches its quota for cod, it can no longer fish for other species, such as haddock, because everything is caught at the same time.
Snowy start to demolition for $55 million SMAST expansion in New Bedford’s South End
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (March 22, 2016) — Monday morning’s snow didn’t change plans for the demolition of the Naval Reserve building in the South End, as an excavator sorted through piles of rubble amid falling flakes to get work rolling on the $55 million expansion of UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST).
Broad sections of the two-story reserve building, which most recently housed SMAST offices, lay in heaps Monday. Michael West, assistant superintendent with Everett-based construction contractor BOND, said demolition of the two-story building should take another one or two days. As he spoke, crews sorted rubble into separate piles of copper, steel, heavy metal and more at the site on South Rodney French Boulevard.
“The main goal is to recycle as much of the old building as we possibly can,” West said.
Maryland Wants to Take shells for oyster project from prime fishing reef
MARYLAND – March 22, 2016 — Seeking to counter a shortage of oyster habitat in the Chesapeake Bay, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is renewing a controversial bid to dredge old shells that have built up over centuries from an ancient reef southeast of Baltimore. Reviving a plan abandoned in 2009, the DNR has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to take 5 million bushels of shells from Man-O-War shoal just beyond the mouth of the Patapsco River. Ultimately, though, the state wants to barge away 30 million bushels, or about a third of the 456-acre reef.
The shells are needed to replace or augment oyster reefs worn down by harvesting and buried under an accumulation of silt, the DNR said. State officials said they would use much of the dredged shell in future large-scale, restoration projects. Some would also go to help the public fishery, though and to assist oyster farmers growing bivalves on leased plots of the Bay and its tributaries.
But the DNR’s request is drawing flak from conservationists, fishermen and even some watermen who might benefit.
MARYLAND: New seafood industry group lobbies against oyster project
MARYLAND – March 22, 2016 –A new group has emerged to speak for the seafood industry in contentious Chesapeake Bay fisheries issues, and it’s already being heard in Maryland on oyster restoration.
The Delmarva Fisheries Association formed last year with the stated intent of bringing together watermen, restaurant owners, packing houses, oyster farmers and boat captains.
Capt. Robert Newberry, the association’s president and founder, used to oyster in the Upper Bay and is now a charter boat captain and a hunting guide. He said he wanted to form a group that would unite the seafood industry.
One of their first priorities, he said, was getting Maryland’s governor to take a closer look at the oyster reef construction project in the Tred Avon, which is part of an effort to restore bivalves in three of the state’s tributaries that will cost tens of millions of dollars. All three have been designated sanctuaries, off-limits to commercial harvesting.
MISSISSIPPI: ‘Nobody wants a menhaden’ mayor tells supervisors
March 21, 2016 — PASCAGOULA — Moss Point Mayor Billy Broomfield defended his city’s major industry, Omega Protein, to Jackson County supervisors on Monday.
He said the menhaden fishery would be hard hit if the county follows through with plans to ask the state to restrict menhaden fishing in the Mississippi Sound to one mile off the Jackson County coast. Harrison and Hancock counties already do that.
The restriction is in part to stop by-catch and overfishing.
LOUISIANA: Louisiana Restaurant Association Awards GSI $50,000 Advocacy Grant
March 21, 2016 — The Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA), the industry’s organization committed to advancing and protecting Louisiana’s restaurant and foodservice industry, has awarded the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) a $50,000 grant to advocate for one of the most important menu items from New Orleans to Shreveport – Gulf seafood.
“Over the past couple of years, we have spent more time advocating for equitable fishing policies and improved data collection, things important for our industry to maintain it source of supply,” said Stan Harris, CEO of the Association while on a trip to Capitol Hill with GSI members. “It became clear to us there was not a central point that we could go to work with the harvesters, to work with the charter-for-hire industry, as well as the chefs and distributors. GSI gives us the opportunity to be able to do that because it convened all these different voices to advocate in a positive manner.”
According to Harris, the goals of GSI align with needs of LRA members, especially those that are in the segment that serve a lot of fresh Gulf seafood to customers coming from around the world. The story of Louisiana and Gulf seafood is all about sustainability and locality.
The LRA was established in 1946 to advocate on behalf of the state’s foodservice and hospitality industry among elected officials and regulatory agencies within Louisiana and through it’s partnership with the National Restaurant Association, address the same issues with federal agencies.
It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and operates the LRA Self Insurer’s Fund for Workers’ Compensation and the LRA Education Foundation. The nine state chapters are composed of restaurants, caterers, hotels, suppliers and related businesses.
Maine Shutting Down Scallop Grounds For The Season
Maine (March 21, 2016) — Maine fishing regulators are shutting down a host of areas where fishermen harvest the state’s valuable scallops.
The scalloping grounds will close for the year on Sunday. The scalloping season began in December and is scheduled to close for the year next month. The scallops tend to become more difficult to find in stores as the state closes down fishing areas.
The closing areas include the Inner Machias Area, Wohoa/Western Bay, Gouldsboro/Dyer Bay, Upper Blue Hill Bay/Union River, the Inner Jericho Bay Area and Eggemoggin Reach/Southeast Harbor Rotational Area. Casco Bay will be closed to dragging, but not diving for scallops.
Scallop-rich Cobscook Bay is also scheduled to full close for the year by March 25.
Maine scallops were worth about $5.75 million last year.
MASSACHUSETTS: Intro Planned for First-Ever RESCUES Manual for Commercial Fishing Industry
March 21, 2016 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The following was released by Fishing Partnership Support Services:
Two organizations serving commercial fishermen in Massachusetts will hold an event in Gloucester this week to introduce a comprehensive guidebook on dealing with a crisis in a fishing community.
The new RESCUES manual will be presented publicly for the first time by the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership and Fishing Partnership Support Services during a press conference at the Gloucester Coast Guard Station, 17 Harbor Loop, on Thursday, March 24, at 2:00 P.M. On-site parking will be available.
RESCUES is an acronym for the title of the manual: Responding to Emergencies at Sea and to
Communities Under Extreme Stress.
A wealth of information has been consolidated within RESCUES to help prepare individuals, groups and entire communities for a crisis affecting members of the commercial fishing industry, such as the sinking of a boat or the search for crew members lost overboard at sea.
“The idea is that, when a crisis occurs, folks in our fishing ports will be able to consult the manual and know right away how the Coast Guard and other authorities are responding — and where they can turn for reliable information and support,” said J.J. Bartlett, President of Fishing Partnership Support Services.
Also, Bartlett said, the manual describes “how families may access services and resources that exist to help them during these terrible situations and for long afterwards.”
Madeleine Hall-Arber, an anthropologist at the Sea Grant College program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ann Backus, of the Harvard University School of Public Health, served as principal investigators and researchers on the lengthy project that produced RESCUES. The MIT Sea Grant College program also provided financing for the printing of the manual.
“By gathering information and knowledge that had never before been assembled in this fashion, and by tying so many disparate but important elements together, RESCUES will make a unique contribution to the well-being of fishing families and to the cohesiveness of fishing communities,” said Ms. Hall-Arber. “It fills a big gap, and it serves a function much needed in an industry experiencing stress on multiple fronts.”
In addition to Ms. Hall-Arber, Ms. Backus and Mr. Bartlett, press conference speakers will include:
- Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken
- Captain Robert Lepere, commanding officer of the Gloucester Coast Guard Station
- Captain Claudia C. Gelzer, commanding officer of the Boston Coast Guard Station and Captain of the Port of Boston.
- Angela Sanfilippo, President of both the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association and the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, who will also serve as master of ceremonies.
- Gloucester State Rep. Ann Margaret Ferrante of the 5th Essex District
“To me, RESCUES is about peace of mind,” said Ms. Sanfilippo. “Many of us who have been involved for years in helping fishermen and their families are in the last years of our working lives and it is good to know that the knowledge and insights we have gained are now gathered in one place for the benefit of future generations.”
On a reflective note, she added, “Working on this manual brought back painful memories of when a fisherman or an entire crew died at sea. That was very hard for us. At the same time, we relived those moments when a fisherman was saved from death because of a smart and courageous rescue. We were heartened by the realization that more lives were saved in the past 40 years than were lost.”
Copies of RESCUES will be provided at the March 24 event and all speakers will be available to answer questions from the media.
Disastrous season forecast for commercial and recreational salmon fishers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 17, 2016) — On Sunday, March 13, the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted three public review alternatives for the 2016 salmon season off the West Coast of the United States. The Council will select a final alternative at their next meeting in Vancouver, Washington on April 9-14.
“The mix of salmon runs this year is unusual,” said outgoing Executive Director Donald McIsaac. “In the north, the return of fall Chinook to the Columbia River is forecast to be exceptionally high again, but expectations for wild coho runs to the Washington Coast and Puget Sound areas can only be described as disastrous. In the south, the Sacramento River fall Chinook are healthy, but Klamath River fall Chinook are so poor that the Council’s policy calls for a low ‘de minimis’ catch in ocean fisheries.”
“This will be a challenging year for salmon fisheries. Several key stocks are less abundant than usual due to environmental conditions like the California drought and El Niño, which have affected ocean abundance for some stocks. However, there are alternatives that provide opportunities for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing coastwide,” said Council Vice-Chair Herb Pollard.
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